


Levitate

by Owlspirit52



Category: Danny Phantom, Gravity Falls, Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Aftermath of Torture, Angst, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Body Horror, Child Abuse, Danny doesn't have actal lines until ch2ish, Danny has trust issues, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fanart (she made it!), Fluff and Angst, Gen, Gender Dysphoria, He'll come around to Steven we sWEaR, My friend and I have TONS planned for this, Neither of us have ever posted here before yike, Not Phantom Planet Compliant (Danny Phantom), Physical Abuse, Post-Gravity Falls, Post-Steven Universe Future, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Self-Worth Issues, Set 1 year after events of Gravity Falls, Soos is visiting Melody atm and his grandma is either stalking him or at home, The GIW are scum, Trans Danny Fenton, Trans Dipper Pines, Trans Male Character, Trust Issues, Unethical Experimentation, sOrRY there were too many people in the house
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:27:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25868182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Owlspirit52/pseuds/Owlspirit52
Summary: If Danny had a nickel for everytime he stumbled through a interdementional portal in a scientist's basement at the brink of death and discovered his whole life has changed, he'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's weird it happened twice, right?Steven's country-wide self-exploration trip slowed to a crawl the second he crossed into Oregon, suckered into every tourist trap he came across. But strangely, an unexplainable pull unlike the others yanks him to a sleepy, unsuspecting town that wasn't even on his GPS.Two hybrids crave to connect with their human halves
Relationships: Danny Fenton & Dipper Pines, Danny Fenton & Mabel Pines, Danny Fenton & Steven Universe, Dipper Pines & Mabel Pines, Dipper Pines & Steven Universe, Mabel Pines & Steven Universe
Comments: 51
Kudos: 238





	1. Chapter 1

Being alive shouldn't be such a burden.

The darkness was speckled with small lights from machines all around him, twinkling and countless; like stars. 

It's been so long since he's seen the stars. This was a disgusting excuse for a replacement, but it's all he had. 

He took in a deep breath of stale air- and choked. Stabbing pain dug in beneath the skin of his neck as he attempted to muffle his sounds. Company was never a desired thing. Not here.

His body had betrayed him. He wished he'd died when he had the chance.

He knew this wasn't living.

These chains kept him alive.

And they killed him every second.

He... he was on his way to Portland. That's where he wanted to go. He can't keep visiting tourist traps, as interesting as they may be, or he'd spend months here. But the further along he went, the stronger the pulls were. Sure, they were usually mildly amusing, but none of them lived up to their fantastical names. So why did he feel such a tug to take a bunch of detours suddenly? 

He steeled himself, hands tightening on the wheel of his Dondai. 

"Self control, Steven", he coached, "I don't know how you keep getting suckered into these places, but you gotta ignore the temptation." He said, driving away from a sign saying 'Granny Sweetkin's Yarnball: World's Biggest!' with a sweet old lady on it. Enjoyable as it was to see it, he should really get going and not get roped into a bunch of novelties.

He almost hit the breaks again at the advertised cornmaze coming up on his left. Almost.

Just a little longer. It was 5:00pm Pacific Time now, so hopefully some of the temptations will close for the night. He should stop soon to grab a bite before it gets dark. 

As Steven tried to recall if RV parks accepted cars or not, that strange feeling amplified full force. Hitting the breaks so hard he could've sworn the rear of the car went momentarily airborne, the 17 year old took a breather. Bad things happen when his emotions affect his driving. 

Eyes closed, he tried collecting himself. Was he just hungry? Did something trigger a memory?

After a deep breath, Steven opened his eyes. His head had almost moved on his own, for he doesn't remember telling his body to swivel towards the driver's seat window. Now that his eyes were open, the hybrid couldn't quite tear his eyes away from that road leading into the forest on his left. A few unblinking seconds past before he's capable of glancing at his phone docked in a holder on his dashboard. Human maps confused the heck out of him, sure, but he doesn't believe he's ever seen a paved road that didn't show up on the map. He peered back at the road to make sure he didn't imagine it. Nope, still there. 

A few comparisons between phone and road were made, before he drove up to get a closer view. Nope, not a dead end. As far as Steven's eye could see was road leading into the woods.

"Ok, now it doesn't even take an actual location to get you intrigued. What happened to you, Steven? Has your boredom really stretched that far?" He narrated to no one.

He has bigger things to worry about than some map error. Stepping on it a bit too hard to be legal, Steven sped forward. 

And swerved.

It's a lot more nerve-wracking to break basic driving laws when you don't have a driver's license. Or an I.D. ... or a birth certificate.

Thankfully, Steven was in a place remote enough for nobody to have witnessed his reckless driving. He just hopes whatever's guiding him so strongly won't torment him so much now that he's given in to it's pull. 

A wooden sign on his right caught his eye amongst the trees. 'Welcome to Gravity Falls' the sign said, a scenic picture of it's hills and trees painted on it. It looked as if it were redone not that long ago.

Without the slightest idea where he's going, he eventually muted that electronic voice from his phone ordering him to make a U-turn. 

Steven glanced about the forest as he drove down the road. The pull didn't disappear, instead it felt like it was getting stronger. He gripped the steering wheel as signs pointed the way to inns and shops and diners veering off the main road. 

The feeling wasn't leading him anywhere specific at this rate. Almost as if it has been satisfied. Steven looked about a little as a small town appeared out of the trees. It was cute upon first glance. It looked new and yet at the same time it felt old and homey. Like the sign where he entered.

Steven glanced about as people walked along the sidewalks. A few cars drove by but it seemed like not many people drove from place to place. Steven suddenly felt a pull that nearly made him stop suddenly and crash but thankfully didn’t. The pull came from a random street that didn’t have a road, just like the ones leading here. The sign that pointed down the road was “Mystery Shack this way!” with a providence eye and hand painted to the side. It looked new. 

Glancing about, he carefully turned into the unpaved road and to this “Mystery Shack”. More signs lead up to it, getting Steven’s attention on occasion.

“Mysteries untold!”  
“You’ll get a thrill!”  
“Beware the creatures of Gravity Falls!”  
“A sight to behold!”

Smiling and now enticed by the cute signs, he carefully followed the road until he came to an outcropping of meadow where a massive cabin sat in what looked like the middle of nowhere. A sign over it said “Mystery Shack”- but the massive ‘S’ from ‘Shack’ had fallen off and sat on the steep slope of the roof. It looked just as new as many other various things in the town but Steven couldnt put his finger on how… strange and old it felt all at once. Like the wood it was made out of wasn't deteriorating or old, but still looked messily nailed in at odd angles.

Even more intrigued by everything about it, Steven parked in the dirt parking lot in one of the spaces drawn out by chalk, driving up to the log that served as a makeshift curb to stop at. The whole place was a cute little adventure for Steven. 

“Alright then..” Steven said to himself after parking. “Just an hour or so here. I gotta get back on the road soon.” He said to himself calmly, eyes determined to follow through with his plan. 

He got out of the car and glanced about. The fresh smell of summer air and pine trees- nature, really- hit his nose instantly. The cool yet slow breeze of wind and the hot sun beating down on the clearing below it made Steven smile wider. Parents and kids walked about, some holding little do-dads and other’s holding merch that must have come from a gift shop. Some older teens talked casually as they left the shack, walking to a van that was spray painted and older looking but comfortable all the same. A man was leading people around with a cane and a silly red hat with some symbol on the front, a tassel hanging off the end. He was dressed nicely for his old age, voice standing out of the small group of tourists. 

Steven was.. just in complete awe with everything. “Okay- two hours.” He corrected with a small grin, before walking up and slipping into the small tourist group inconspicuously. Nobody seemed to notice him- and if they did they probably didn’t mind. 

The tourists followed the weird looking old man through the front grounds of this so-called Mystery Shack. Steven smiled brightly and glanced around at the small statues of rocks that were piled up that the man said was deadly to touch, receiving a gasp from the group- all but Steven. They just looked like normal rocks to him, but he could have been wrong. This place was vastly different from Beach City. Maybe this man had found a dangerous gem artifact?

The group continued around and more things were shown about and overly glorified, but it was pleasant to see other people get excited over what looked like a tree with jam spread all over the roots and the base. It was relaxing- these people were a whole different breed of humans. He knew everyone back home and grew up running around the town. He even knew most gems better than he understood the excited parents and bored kids. 

Eventually the group went inside, looking around a thin but long hallway of items and creatures and what looked like monsters lining the place floor to ceiling. Steven was almost as entranced as everyone else in the group. There were things like this here in Gravity Falls? No wonder Steven was so drawn to this. He smiled to himself, satisfied he found the answer to the pulls and impulses he got when driving through the forest earlier. 

While Steven was busy having a quiet breakdown gazing at the displayed 'crystal ball', a deafening screech rang out. There was loud thudding from outside the shack, in the same direction the sound came from. Steven turned his head to the noise and was knocked back roughly when something slammed through the wall. The tourists with Steven screamed and the guy threw his fake eye patch off and ran into the house. “Kids!! Get the damn book, and find somethin’ to fight with!!” He hollered. Steven was too busy to look at the other tourists who were knocked back from the blow to make sure they were okay. 

‘Breathe, Steven.’ The gem reminded himself internally. He heard more stomping and what looks like the massive mane of a lion’s head stuck through the massive hole in the cabin wall. Steven had never seen a lion that looked like this- it was dull and brown and not as pink as his lion. It roared loudly, kicking those thoughts out of his head pretty quickly. “Oh jeez-“ he muttered, the tourists around him getting up and running deeper into the shack for safety. 

The lion slammed its side into the wall again and broke a hole big enough to fit through. Steven got to his feet and backed up a little, the rose shield appearing on his arm and he held his ground… but the lion did not have paws like he expected. 

It had massive flippers that slapped the ground as it walked in. It locked eyes with Steven before lunging abruptly.

Steven was too busy gaping at the anomaly to be properly prepared for it, regardless of training. It looked too earthly to be a corrupted gem, yet he'd never seen such an animal. He thankfully managed to duck out of the way, the lion’s head crashing against a wall as the hybrid shuffled down the hall away from it, trying to avoid the shrapnel from the wood best he could. “Wow- okay… what even are you?!” He said, voice cracking a little from surprise and validated fear. 

The lion thing turned on him again, the tail that waved in the air looking like it's been replaced with that of a shark’s. Steven’s mind was racing. “What in the ever growing cosmos are you?!” He repeated his question, almost like he was expecting a response that was probably going to him being chased by a lion-fish-creature.. thing. Could he bubble it? It wouldn’t get out, right? His bubbles were invincible-

The lion-shark leaped at him again, Steven using his shield to block it but it was surprisingly strong for having flippers as appendages. It knocked Steven back again and made him roll back a little, thankfully only a couple feet. He quickly got to his feet. He couldn’t hurt it. There was no gem he could see, and there was no way he'd hurt an earthling.

So Steven did what he probably should have thought of when this all started and shoved it into a large bubble, still holding his place as the lion tried to claw its way out to freedom and roaring ferociously.

Heart racing and blood pounding in his ears, he finally relaxed a little and let his shield disappear. “Alright-“ he muttered, catching his breath (more from the initial shock than the rather tame fight itself). Steven smiled weakly, looking up at the lion-shark as it glared down at him. “Well.. you’re new. I-I think- are you normal around here? I have a pink lion myself but he’s back home.” Steven said and just kinda talked awkwardly for a second. 

A sharp, dramatic gasp from behind him made Steven spin around towards the noise, shield summoned again at the ready. In front of him near the door were a collection of shocked expressions and drawn weapons. The mysterious old man from earlier stood beside a similar looking man in a brown coat who held some sort of gun. In front of them were two children of the same height and also had features to one another. A boy in a blue and white cap looked torn between eyeing the book in his hands and staring at Steven, looking just as taken aback as the two adults. The girl beside him was wearing what looked like a handmade sweater with a compass decoration on it, seemed to disregard the danger in favor, displaying undeniable glee. 

"Giant hamsterball! Magic boy! Oh, Gravity Falls, you have served me where highschool has failed!!" The girl shouted to the heavens, sprinting full speed ahead in Steven's direction before the others could stop her. "I'm Mabel, what's a beautiful human being like you doing here?!" She asked brightly, rocking on her feet giddily.

Steven blinked, caught even more off guard by her forwardness than the monster.

"H-Human?" Steven bit his tongue at the stumble with his words. "Hah, yeah um, me, I'm... just a normal tourist!"

The creature behind him thrashed and growled angrily from the confinements of his spherical pink cage the boy created.

Yep. Normal. 

Beads of sweat started to form on his face as he awkwardly put his hands on his hips. "Y'know, just, touristing around..." Steven drawled on, digging a deeper hole for himself by the second. The small boy's eyebrow quirked up in suspicion, sharp eyes following his every move.

"Alright alright, considering you're the only customer that didn't flee in terror, you get the honor of finishing this tour and feasting your eyes on the giftshop!" The old tour guide advertised, his eight-ball cane pointing to a door Steven hasn't yet been through.

"Only if this fine lad gets something for free for his heroism!" Mabel cut in boldly.

"Hah! As if. Something outta pay for damages. And unless I'm mistaken, fish-lion here ain't got any spare change." The old man said with the stubborn businessman persona he seemed to hold happily.

"Grif-fin, actually. Like a griffin, but with actual fins." The small boy in the blue vest corrected, his book open to a specific page as if he was referencing from it.

The world spun around the half-gem. These humans seemed awfully knowledgeable- calm, even- in the face of what just happened. Was this normal for them? What would've happened if Steven hadn't been in the right place at the right time?!

"I can pay for it!" Steven piped up. The gruff old man eyed him doubtfully, only for his jaw to drop halfway to the floor as the teen pulled a thick stack of cash held together by a rubber band from his pocket. Steven offered the full thing to the man without giving it a second glance. The fancily dressed man recovered quickly, and squinted at the boy with unyielding suspicion, snatching the stack from his hands roughly. The man took a step back, thumbing through the papers and watching them flip quickly through until his thumb met his first finger, the action causing a small breeze. Andrew Jackson's face flicked by for the first half, then Ulysses S. Grant for a fourth of it, and finally near the bottom were a bunch of Benjamin Franklins. He did it again, listening to the familiar noise. Then he pulled the bottom bill out, holding it up to the light. Then he sniffed at it. Then he licked it.

Steven took in the display, wondering if this was normal human behavior. And from the way the others cringed at the sight, he assumed it wasn't.

Finally the scanning came to an end, and the old man stared at him in disbelief. 

"Er, is that enough? I have more if that won't cover it." Steven voiced, wanting to break the uncomfortable silence. He hoped he didn't do something wrong.

The man straightened up in a flash, pocketing the money in practised fluency as he cleared his throat. "That'll most certainly do! Gracias, merci, now let us show you the way around our shop of wonders, good sir!" The fez-wearing man said, arm patting him on the back and guiding him towards the gift shop.

The place was pretty normal as far as tourist trap gift shops go. Weird knick knacks, "no refunds" signs, and tacky bumper stickers galore; Steven could never get enough of these places. 

A sign nailed to the checkout desk beneath the boots of a redheaded teen caught his eye first. 'Employees desperately wanted', it read- ‘desperately’ scrawled in messily between the two bold words. An idea occurred to him.

"You're hiring?" Steven asked, turned to the man. 

"YOU'RE HIRED." The adult responded, seizing Steven's shoulders. The man then cleared his throat, arms dropping as he straightened. "I mean eh, what's your name, kiddo?"

"Steven. Steven Universe!"

"Stan Pines. Are you a semi-competent teen?"

"Uhh, yeah, I think so?"

"And you wouldn't mind working here, even if something like that happens almost daily?" 

"I mean yeah? I'm actually kinda used to it." Steven was equal parts confused and strangely exhilarated by the sudden questionnaire. He watched as this 'Stan' character detoured over to a standing rack full of green t-shirts. He guesstimated the boy's size and took one off the hook, then chucked it in Steven's direction.

A dark green question mark similar to some of the shop's decor was on the front of the shirt Steven caught in front of him. Wow. This took a turn. More like a swerve, honestly.

"Wait, what? Stan, I understand you're desperate, but you're really gonna hire some random tourist? You're not even going to look at his resume?" The other old man finally spoke, taking a break from his silent scrutiny of the kid.

"What's a resume?" Steven asked, clueless.

The younger boy smacked himself on the forehead, grumbling under his breath. Steven blushed, feeling a bit dumb for what wasn't the first time on this journey.

"Listen, listen. With Soos gone, there's a giant hole in the productivity of this joint. I'm not letting someone who tolerates this town's craziness without freaking out end up on my doorstep without seizing the opportunity." Stan then turned to address Steven. "I'm guessing as a tourist ya don't got a place to stay?"

"I mean... no, not really."

"Yes! C'mon, you can take Soos's room!" The sweater girl beamed up at him, grabbing his arm and attempting to haul him towards a door that read 'Employees Only'. To her surprise, she couldn't get the boy to budge an inch, even with her freakish strength she prided herself for.

"Wait, so, what're your names?" Steven asked, wanting to at least know who he's been looped into living with.

"I'm still Mabel! That nerd over there is my brother Dipper, that taller nerd is our grunkle Ford, and that cool teen over there is Wendy-"

"Wassup." Wendy waved, only sparing a glance at him before scrolling on her phone again.

"And you've already met our grunkle Stan." She informed, pointing to each human in turn.

"What's a grunkle?"

"A great uncle!"

"Oh." Steven took it all in; the people, the place, the circumstance... he was extremely used to life throwing change at him considering his life with the gems and their chaos, but this? Wow. But then he recalled the reason he started this journey in the first place; to discover himself, find a place to settle down, and learn more about his world. He was going with the flow, and if the flow led him here, he'd obey. Besides, there's humans in need of protection here, and there's no way he's leaving until the problem is resolved. So.. maybe Connie won't have his head for this after all. Hopefully.

"Ok, cool! Nice meeting you all, and thanks for having me." Steven chirped politely with an easy smile.

The boy, (Dipper, was it?) sputtered in disbelief before finally finding the words. "I- you- what? Just like that? A-And what are you gonna do about the grif-fin standing in a bright pink bubble in our hallway?"

Steven's eyes followed Dipper's finger to the monster writhing in his big bubble. 

"Oh, stars, I almost forgot about that." He admitted, scratching his head of dark curls. "Do you happen to know where it lives? Maybe we can release it somewhere."

Now it was Dipper's turn to blush "I mean, yeah. I'm kinda the one who uh, miiiight've accidentally led it here." He admitted, shuffling nervously. His sister snickered from beside him.

Ford sighed at his great nephew’s (grefew?) transgressions. "Just follow us, we'll show you."

"Wendy, watch the shack." 

"Alright. Come back with all your limbs attached." The Wendy girl said, waving them off easily.

~~~

Apparently it wasn't all that far away. Opposite to the road leading to the shack was a forest path that apparently led to a small lake where the beast called home. Steven mechanically rolled the bubble along, mind somewhere else. That somewhere referring to why in the world would a defenseless human child actively seek out danger like that?! Such a concept was unfathomable to him. 

The boy in question spoke up. "So uh, how'd you make that thing anyways?" Dipper asked, cautiously poking it as if in fear he'd pop it.

"Oh, umm..” Ah jeez. He's been trying to keep a low profile overall when it comes to magic. People outside of beach city aren't nearly as well-adjusted. Even though these people seemed to be, he still didn't wish to give too much about all that away. Part of this trip was about a fresh start, in hopes of aiding his recovery process. Talking about his powers got real personal real fast. 

"I'm magic, basically." Steven said with a meek smile. He lifted the hem of his shirt, the light hitting his pink diamond gemstone in a dazzling display. 

"Whoa..." Dipper gaped, leaning in closer. Steven had everyone's attention now.

"Are you a superhero?" Mabel asked, finally having calmed down from her initial 'dream come true' high after Steven gave her a bubble upon request. Something about human-sized hamsters...

"Ehh no, not really. I mean- just- it's personal. Magic is sorta the thing around here right?"

"I mean yeah, but you're not." Dipper pointed out. 

Ford perked up, jumping into the conversation. "Hah! This might just prove my Grand Unified Theory of Weirdness! Steven, please tell me, how exactly did you get here?"

"Uhh, my car?" Steven answered, not quite sure where this was going.

"Oh, well, ok. But, why are you here, what inspired you to come here? Was it some deep, primal feeling inside of you, or was it my brother's advertisement." The man pressed.

"Well, if I'm being honest, I was starting to feel weird the closer I got to here. I was gonna drive past this place, see if i could park my car and sleep for the night, but..." Steven drifted. He didn't like the way Ford seemed to have pulled a notepad out of nowhere and was writing something Steven couldn't see.

"I uh, kind of swerved the car in a way that was very, very illegal. I didn't mean to, it just sort of happened! And... then I found myself here."

"Fascinating." Ford commented softly, scrawling notes down with impressive speed.

"You see, Steven, Gravity Falls is a major hotspot unlike anywhere else in the world for the strange and paranormal. It's where all sorts of oddities leak into this dimension from a dimension of weirdness!" The supposed 'tall nerd' gushed.

"Oh... that's uh, that's cool." Steven hoped he wasn't coming off as flippant, but this wasn't exactly what he wanted to hear. He'd hoped to keep his 'weirdness', so-to-speak, at bay for awhile. Now it's almost like the center of attention.

"Um, Mr. Ford? With all due respect, I'm not really in a mentally sound place to really wanna talk about my, er, 'weirdness'" he explained, taking one hand off of his bubble to do quotations in the air. He's not sure how he feels about that word. "Maybe someday I'll be, but right now I'm not comfortable talking about it. It's personal, y'know?"

"Oh." Ford said, doing a terrible job of trying to hide the way he deflated in disappointment.

"Sorry..."

"No no! I understand, trust me. We've got many experiences in this family ourselves that we'd rather not discuss. As long as you're comfortable, it's good enough for us." Ford reassured, patting Steven on the back. The boy in turn smiled warmly up at him. 

"We're here!" Dipper announced. In front of them all was a clearing that led to the beach of a small lake with a waterfall.

As he rolled the disgruntled creature down to the shore, Steven turned to the scientist again. "So, Gravity Falls? This is it?"

Stan chuckled gruffly. "Hah, not even close. That's on the opposite side of town. This is a little waterpark in comparison to the Falls."

Steven nodded, rolling the bubble to the water's edge. 

"Hold on tight, buddy." Was the only warning he gave before the teen outright punched the bubble with incredible force, sending it flying over the water and skipping like a stone before plunging underwater. 

Steven turned as he brushed off his hand confidently, only to open his eyes to see another round of awe from the family.

"Weeee should probably put some distance between ourselves and that thing before the bubble pops." He suggested, pointing towards the way they'd come.

Without any further questions, the group quietly headed home. 

He then remembered the call he'd received not all that long ago to assure he wasn't going to get distracted anymore. “God Connie’s going to kill me-“ Steven muttered, dragging a hand over his face.

If anyone heard his musings, no one commented on it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Steven really said "Road safety laws, prepare to be IGNORED!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here comes the Dannyboi! Always ready to make a grand entrance. Of sorts.

Muffled alarms blared through the otherwise silent Mystery Shack, jolting all the residents awake and on their feet. The whole house is in a frenzy in a matter of seconds.

Steven was especially disoriented; he’d never heard such a noise in his life! It assaulted his ears the way explosions and roaring monsters did, only it was a constant, seemingly never-ending din that beat against his skull.

He bolted down the stairs of his guest room, running down the hallway to where he heard feet thumping against the floorboards. The sound led him to the gift shop, ending up mere feet away from both sets of twins facing a… vending machine? None of them seemed to notice him. Steven’s eye twitched as Ford punched in buttons to the snack machine with a grave look on his face. What snack could taste so good that you’d rather get that first rather than stop that cursed racket?

And then the vending machine opens like a door, revealing an otherwise hidden entrance in the wall. Steven was pretty sure the ones in Beach City don’t do that.

“Wh-what’s-” he stopped, realizing he couldn’t hear his own voice over the noise. “What’s going on?!” Steven yelled through cupped hands. The Pines heard him, their attention deviating towards where he stood by the opened “Employees Only” door. They exchanged frantic glances between them, looking conflicted.

Ford seemed reluctant, but otherwise had made up his mind. “Follow us! But be on guard!” he called, not waiting to see Steven’s response as he led the way down a staircase. Something from downstairs made the entire entrance flash red in time with the loud beeps.

The hybrid did as he was told, running to keep up with them. He tried to ignore the occasional uneasy glance the boy in front of him- Dipper- directed towards him.

At the bottom was a pair of double doors. Ford pressed the lowermost button beside the doors, prompting them to open automatically.

When they all filed in and the elevator descended, the alarm got increasingly louder the further down they went. Steven’s hands pressed against his ears, but it did little to combat the way the sound vibrated in his chest.

The elevator came to an ungraceful halt at the bottom, jostling the chamber as the doors creaked open. A spacious room was revealed before them, bathed in flashing crimson. Behind the barrier of tempered safety glass, on the back wall of the lab, was a circle of bright colors spinning so fast it worsened Steven’s growing migraine. It randomly sparked and short-circuited, looking highly unstable. The gem hybrid felt a familiar sensation of weightlessness.

“Gah! Thought I'd dismantled this damn th- whoa whoa!” Ford’s steps were cut off when his body lifted clear off the ground. As if gravity had ceased to exist, everything was floating in the air. “Everyone! Get to those three keys!” the man ordered amidst the chaos, pointing over to a station labeled “MANUAL OVERRIDE”. Steven grunted, attempting to propel himself in that direction. There was even less gravity to work with here than there was on the moon base.

A blinding flash of light temporarily crippled all of Steven’s worldly senses. This was _more_ than light; this was a distortion of reality as he knew it. Gem warp pads came to mind, except this was a more raw, unrestrained, primal power.

He felt his body abruptly plummet to the ground as deafening mechanical clamor echoed within the large enclosed space. When the additional noise died down it was replaced with high-pitched whir of machines slowly powering down, a few excess sparks flew and then died around the now broken circle of the portal.

The portal’s spinning momentum slowed, and a murky acid green mixed eerily with the portal’s originally blue glow. It seemed fake- like a dream they couldn't wake up from. Steven glanced between the other faces of his coworkers, then back at the strange portal.

A silhouette emerged from the swirling colors and bright lights. Was the gravity still being funky? Steven swore he didn't see that kid’s feet touching the ground. It was probably just his imagination.. it had to be.

But what wasn't Steven's imagination was the bright green, glowing eyes of the figure. It was the only visible thing about him so far besides spiky black hair and scrawny arms and legs. A soft, almost weak glow surrounded the kid as his feet touched the earth. He gazed in the direction of the strangers not too far away from him. Unfocused eyes landed on where Steven knelt, who was closest in front. The gem hybrid couldn’t say if the stranger could even see them though; those eyes shone like gems, yet seemed so disconnected from reality.

To Steven’s horror, the kid was covered in blood and a strange green mess that perfectly matched the eyes. What looked like other-worldly fluids behaved differently than the blood, and never quite mixed with it, like oil and water. Mabel got to her feet first to stare at the kid. “Hello-?” She called to him over the whir of the portal. The teenage kid looked in her direction dazedly, then over to the other faces. “Mabel don't-“ Dipper whisper-yelled as he pushed himself to his feet. “We don't know who that is..”

The stranger was holding himself, Steven noticed. Either trying to stop the blood or find warmth beneath the thin shirt and pants he had on. He perpetually shivered like a chihuahua.

“Am.. Am I safe..?” Spoke a gentle but clear voice that must have been mustered out of his throat. Steven had a feeling the kid wasn’t asking anyone but themself that question; either that or he was too tired for this voice to carry. The portal dimmed almost instantly after he spoke and he let out a pained cough. He took a step, and Steven and the grunkles got to their feet. Another step.

A tremble.

The green light rapidly dimmed from the kid’s eyes and his legs buckled underneath him. Steven bolted forward, arms out to catch the boy by his underarms. One second the gem felt the wisp of cold skin in his palms; the next nothing but air as the kid let out a strangled yelp and seemed to go _through_ him, alluding the taller boy’s grasp and tumbling to the floor at his feet.

Steven couldn’t help but pause and blink, looking down at his hands. He could’ve sworn he’d had him. He shook his head, brought back to reality by the way the befallen boy writhed for a moment on the cement with a groan. Not a moment later the kid strained his impossibly emaciated limbs to lift himself from the floor, adrenaline and panic visible in his dull eyes as he’s suddenly on his feet and running a safe distance away from Steven. He then abruptly pauses, almost falling over again, as he peers toward the now damaged portal. Within manic eyes was some sort of realization, his hands shooting up to where some sort of collar-looking thing held snug against his neck. It looked suffocating and not at all stylish; industrial-looking bands of thick grey metal interrupted only by a strip in the middle of a dimly luminous red that looked like a taillight that’s been turned off. The stranger assumed a shaky wide stance as if to gain his bearings, trying to hook all ten fingers beneath the shiny metal collar, yanking at it. Shackles of the same design were also clamped against each of his wrists. Steven slowly approached, wanting to figure out how he could help, but the kid failed to notice him.

Finally, after a vicious tug, the weird device let go of his neck. It revealed wires underneath, which withheld the connection between the collar and neck, their ends embedded deeply into the stranger’s abused skin and slick with red and green. Almost as if a cyborg was ripping themself apart.

A blood curdling scream exited the boy’s mouth, before he collapsed once more to the ground. Everyone rushed over to his prone form, the newly acquired wound adding to the gore of the child’s appearance. Blood and more of that green stuff poured at an alarming rate from the self-inflicted injury, coating the black wires and collar.

Steven dove to his knees, already licking his hand. Taking notice of the way the boy’s eyes fixated on him in terror, Steven bit his lip.

“You’re gonna be ok, alright? Just lemme-” the gem hybrid licked his hand again for good measure to compensate for how dry his mouth had gotten. His patient finally tore his eyes away from the eye-contact, instead fixating on Steven’s gem, eyes somehow widening even more than before. The boy was either beginning to trust him or was merely frozen in fear; either way, he didn’t move further.

“Steven what’re you-” Ford’s half-scolding questions were cut off as Steven gently pressed his full hand right on the flowing wound.

Screaming. Shrill, agonized screaming.

Silence.

No skin mending. No magical glow. Nothing but pain, then silence.

Distantly, Steven knew that time hadn’t actually come to standstill like his mind had. That nothing else shared in the all encompassing numbness that has swept over him and clouded his mind in a haze. He knew by how the scene around him changed, and how his body was being pulled somewhere. Away from the basement. Away from his patient. His _failure_.

A part of him wanted to go back. But he couldn’t. He wouldn’t.

He’d _hurt_ him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn Steven dontcha think tryna heal a literal ghost is kind of counterproductive? smh.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aftermath of all the "oh god random glowing teen came through our portal and blood is everywhere" fiasco. Discoveries are made, though most of them leave them with more questions than answers. Hopefully this creature isn't as dangerous as the secondhand accounts Ford's been told.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy (belated) New Year! Wow, we let this get away from us a bit. I blame my perfectionism. It'll hopefully get better from here, as schools have closed down around here again, but no promises lol.

After all the screaming had subsided, Stan had dove in and manhandled Steven away from the writhing newcomer, ushering the three kids towards the elevator with stern orders to stay upstairs unless told otherwise. The twins got on their toes and peered through the lattice elevator window just in time to see Ford rushing over to assess the damage.

That was several hours ago. To the twins, at least, who seemed with-it enough to notice the passage of time. Steven was a whole different story, who looked like he was re-living the moment with the same amount of intensity as he had hours ago. Well, maybe that was a bit unfair. He’d shot outside with inhuman speed as a bright pink blur the second the elevator door allowed him to do so. It was more than an hour before the Shack’s newest employee wandered dazedly back inside, looking worse for wear and a little dirty. Their eyes turned out to have not been tricking them when he first went out, for he was still a freakish shade of neon pink. Both skin and hair, vibrant as a highlighter. He didn’t seem to hear any of Dipper's urgent questions, instead picking a spot on the floor to curl up in a ball and tremble ceaselessly like a hot pink chihuahua. Dipper was distinctly reminded of an unstable bomb, and neither he nor his sister went near him after the first few tries, not wanting to be in the potential blast zone.

Mabel felt badly for him, wishing she knew how to help. Dipper didn’t share in the sentiment. He saw how Steven just outright shoved his bare hand on that guy’s gaping wound. He even remembered the teen licking his hand first— the heck was wrong with him?! And now this guy’s completely changed colors, and is acting all distressed? Yeah, that reeks of suspicion, Dipper could smell it in the air. Either that or it’s formaldehyde from a display that broke during the gravity outage. Formaldehyde smells like suspicion.

Stan didn’t wait for the elevator doors to close, spinning 180 degrees to assist his brother. He couldn’t tell how conscious or not the kid was, body spasming feverishly and eyes less than halfway open.

Ford didn’t examine him on the ground for very long, instead having Stan pick him up to bring to his private study on the next floor.

After delivering the kids upstairs, the elevator came down again and the twins boarded it with the bleeding specimen in tow.

Once their ride stopped Ford threw open the red and gold door to his study, jogging in ahead of Stan to clear a space. He plucked off a few glass objects from a table and relocated them onto the shelf on the wall, then pushed off the rest of it with a hasty swipe of his arm, uncaring how they fell loudly to the floor. As the scientist went over to some nearby cabinets, Stan was careful not to jostle the kid as he quickly stepped over and set him down on the table.

The frail teen was unfortunately becoming slightly more lucid, stiffly struggling against Stan’s hold as his body touched the table. The kid kept trying to roll off the table for some reason, and Stan had a difficult time corralling him without the kid crying out and jerking away. Ford, as bad as he felt for having to force a halfa as weak looking as the one in front of him down and sticking him with a needle, had no choice if he was going to have to help him. A shrill shriek ripped through the air as the needle pierced skin, and Ford wrapped some yellowing tape around the IV to secure it to the child’s arm more times than he usually would, seeing as the kid was already trying to grab at it. His motor skills didn’t seem nearly refined enough to successfully grab ahold of it, but Stan seemed to have read his thoughts, already holding the kid’s other arm down. The action produced a new round of panicked movements, but Stan could tell the kid’s fight was fading as he used up what little energy he still had.

Ford searched in a cabinet to his side for a moment before pulling out a tattered notebook that looked like something from a college kid’s backpack and rapidly flipped through it. “..... here.” He muttered to himself as he opened a page full of rushed notes on this species. Another small and pained cry from the kid in his lab. Ford let out a shaky sigh as he read some information to himself before turning to the ravenette on the table. 

The man huffed in frustration at what little the notebook had to offer, setting it down on a nearby desk opened on the page titled “Halfas(?)”. 

The twins weaved around each other from there, neither one questioning the practiced ease of the other in things like stitching up flesh or wrapping wounds. Not much was said other than terse info and a big helping of grumbled profanities.

After the sickening Y shape was sewn shut and wrapped in gauze, Ford drew his attention to the somehow weirder problem: those metal cuffs. The collar was dangling by its wires from the boy’s neck from where he’d ripped it loose. Carefully, Ford traced where the wire went under the kid’s skin, trying to get a feel for how long it was. He did the same thing with all the wires he could find in his legs and arms as well. He cringed—each of those wires were about a foot long. Whoever did this to the poor kid definitely intended on these things being permanent. So much so that Ford probably would’ve thought they were a part of him, had the kid not been so keen on ripping them out.

Ford glanced once more at the notebook he put on the desk. Nothing in there could possibly help him. He sighed, then steeled himself. “Okay Stanford..” he muttered. “Don't screw this kid up more.” 

Dipper paced in the living room upstairs, mindlessly gnawing on one of those dollar store pens and muttering aloud incomprehensibly. Two have already burst open in his mouth in the past few hours, the current one well on its way to being the third.

Mable sat quietly on the floor, trying to distract herself with her phone. There was an uncharacteristic lack of squeals at the cute animals she scrolled through. 

Steven, meanwhile, was still deeply disquieted. He was lucky he was able to escape the Shack in time to safely have a breakdown without unwanted witnesses. That would’ve certainly not done him any favors in that house’s dynamic. 

But that was far from his main concern. At the moment Steven’s hands weren’t unnaturally pink, but that could change in a nick of time in his current state of mind. There was a person in urgent need of help and he’d—

Nononono ok ok calm down deep breaths—

Steven’s fingers tapped his knee as he sat on the yellow striped chair Mabel had kindly offered to him some time ago. She’d even turned on the TV to serve as a distraction, but Steven could only register it as background noise, unable to focus on much of anything. Finally, he found it in himself to speak. “So....” He started, breaking the tense silence slowly. “Is.... nobody going to explain to me what is going on?” His voice faltered severely from lack of use and crying, but at least he could speak now.

Mabel looked up from the floor at Steven, shocked he’d finally spoken. She then glanced at Dipper before letting out a small sigh. Dipper was too in his own head to contribute, as was commonplace when there was a mystery he was struggling with. “We.... don't know either?” She admitted.

Steven bit his lip. On one hand, he’s thoroughly grateful that mortally wounded beings stumbling through portals isn’t a common occurrence. Knowing the locals were just as much fish-out-of-water as him, however, was both unsettling and not the most common occurrence for Steven. 

A few minutes later footsteps were heard down the hallway from the gift shop and a haggard set of older twins stepped around the corner, ready to address the trio in the living room. 

Steven looked up at them, noticing the thick green and red substance coating Ford’s sleeves, some splashes also present on his torso. Stan looked considerably more morbid, the sleeveless shirt he always sleeps in not even moderately white in the front anymore. Both twins bore similarly troubled expressions. Dipper stopped pacing and looked up at Ford, dropping the pen instantly. “What’s happening?? Is he—” He asked quickly.

Ford raised a hand to silence him, before letting out a slow sigh. “Dipper, Mabel.. I need to talk to you. You too, Steven” He said gently, fixing his large square glasses.

The twins and hybrid got up quickly and followed the adults to the vending machine.

“Is he okay??” Mabel jumped right into questioning.

“ _What_ is he?” Dipper added.

“Did you get the collar off?” Steven asked.

“Why was he bleeding green and red?” Dipper continued.

“Is he a Christmas monster—?”

“Mabel, be serious.”

Ford sighed wearily as the elevator descended. “He’s stable. I managed to get those blasted manacles off but it’s not pretty. Some nasty scars will likely form where those cuffs were, but they’ll be mere drops in the ocean compared to the rest of the kid’s sea of adhesions. "And on the note of _what_ he is..” Ford said, leading them into his study where the bandaged and patched up teen lay on the table, passed out.

Dipper and Mabel shared a look of silent awe as Ford continued. “He’s a halfa.”

“A whatta?” Mabel asked, tilting her head. 

“A halfa. Something that isn't alive nor dead, but classifies as something else entirely; toggling between the two states with ease and reaping the benefits of both. Half ghost, half human, and wholly a headache. Both literally and in scientific theory.” Ford grumbled, checking his not-journal again.

Dipper couldn’t help but fixate on the notebook. “Is that—?”

“Just some notations from my multiverse travels. I wouldn't call it a fourth journal—half of it is how to say basic phrases in thousands of different languages that I’ll never hear again—but there are some things that still prove useful in this dimension.” Ford answered his great nephew distractedly, intense eyes burning holes into the scrawled text before him.

Dipper nods, studying the halfa. There’s an IV on the back of his left hand, leading to a bag of fluids of some kind like in hospitals, and off to the side was a cabinet with a bunch of medical supplies not typically found in a domestic home. Dipper opens his mouth in brief shock, before realizing he should’ve expected nothing less from a paranormal scientist. ...And someone who regularly sets their face on fire because it’s ‘faster than shaving’.

“Half human?!” Steven blurted out, Ford’s words having finished registering in his brain. “He’s half human?!” stars shone in his eyes, and the teen looked about ready to explode with intense and sudden emotions.

Dipper frowned. “But.. how is that possible? You never wrote about halfas before in any other journal.”

“Because I never knew they existed, not until the portal. I lived in a void where time and space don’t make sense and met a lot of strange people. I was introduced to the concept of halfas from a few of them.” Ford explained. He sighed, pushing his glasses up slightly and rubbing at the bridge of his nose. “No offense to the kid, but I was hoping that halfas were just the product of severe misinterpretation of the Schrödinger’s Cat Experiment; which, why the way, is a cat that cannot physically exist!” ranted Ford, waving his arms like an unfortunately flightless bird.

“Wait, who’s cat is this?” Steven piped up, entirely lost.

Ford sighed, rubbing his face with his free hand. “Schrödinger’s Cat was a hypothetical created by scientist Schrödinger to demonstrate why the idea that quantum particles only collapse to a single state when viewed by a conscious observer is, in fact, completely absurd. Therefore he crafted a fictional situation in which a cat is sealed in a box along with a bit of radioactive substance and no observers,-”

“Ford.” Stan interrupted, breaking his former wordlessness.

“No, let me finish.” Ford brushed him off. “When thinking of the situation through the lens of the observer-driven theory, the result would be the cat is both blown to smithereens and kept perfectly alive, as there would be no observer to trigger the Geiger counter or not. It is impossible that the cat be both alive _and_ dead, therefore disproving the theory. Observer or no observer, the cat would either be dead _or_ alive, depending on whether the Geiger counter gets triggered or it does not. It cannot, due to known laws of physics and basic logic, be both! But alas, the more I learn about the multiverse, the more I come to understand its rude lack of consideration towards making sense.”

Mabel shrugged with a carefree grin. “Pfft, it’s the multiverse. It can do what it wants.”

“Okay okay, we get it, your little nerd world is falling apart. I don’t see how the heck that is nearly as important when compared to the fact that there is a kid that’s obviously been through hell and back with the scars to prove it that showed up bleeding out in our basement. Priorities, Stanford.” Stan chastised, in disbelief that Ford would be hung up over something Stan was certain was commonplace in Gravity Falls.

“This has _unparalleled_ importance, Stanley. The fact of the matter is that someone somehow managed to reactivate the highly volatile interdimensional portal, which I can’t even begin to imagine how, nor for what reason, that kid did so. This is a species in which our only knowledge of them has been gathered through the unreliable source of random beings from far away dimensions who were kind enough to inform me. Information, mind you, that is nothing but vague descriptions of how dangerously powerful and elusive they are, and how they are widely feared because of the mere idea of the existence of these physics-breakers is terrifying!”

After that outburst, a prolonged silence befell upon the group. A rare occurrence in the Pines family.

“I know why he’s here.” Steven hesitantly spoke up. The Pines family turned to look at him with varying amounts of suspicion.

“I don’t know about quan-tum, and all that stuff, but,” Steven looked down to twiddle his thumbs. “I do know he needs help. Maybe that’s why he came here. Would it really matter what he is, if he needs our help?” he suggested quietly, peering up at Ford.

Ford sighed once more, “Yes, I do realize that. As I was intending to mention, there is another side of this. We cannot abandon this child, for he is in critical condition and I doubt he is capable of hurting us in this state. I’d say all we can do now is wait and hope for the best, for him and us both.

Unanimous agreement was shared between all who were in the room as they looked at the prone boy on the table.

Mabel ventured closer to their strange new house guest, getting a good look at the teen boy’s face as she leaned over him, smiling a little. “He’s cute.” She stated bluntly. 

“Ew, Mabel. Don't say that about him, he isn't even awake to defend himself.” Dipper sighed, wrinkling his nose before looking back up at Ford. “So.. what category does he fall under?” He asked. “Maybe the same as category 10 ghosts? Er, would he even qualify for that scale?” 

Ford shook his head. He looked over the frail, thin and weak body of the unnamed boy. “No.. he’s something entirely different.” He said apprehensively. 

“Category 11.”

In different amounts of awe and confusion, the group stayed silent for a short period of time. That was, until Stan and Mabel shared a glance between each other. “The heck is Category 11?” Mabel eventually asked in both comedic timing and when the silence was becoming awkward. 

“There are different levels of ghost energy I've studied here in Gravity Falls.” Ford explained with a wave of his hand. “Category one being harmless and the higher the spectrum it goes, the more dangerous or even evil the spirits or ghosts can become. Because this kid is a halfa…” he said, trailing off as his eyes lead back to the frail body on the nameless teen. “The list only went up to 10. But, as I have learned from the multiverse, halfas are a whole new level of dangerous.” 

Steven’s eyes widened a little, shifting his weight. How was there something more dangerous than whatever Ford found? And how was it possible to be this kid? Was it possible that Ford's concept of danger really measured up to the perilous things Steven and the gems knew? So many questions, so little answers. “ _How_ dangerous, if I can ask?” 

Ford’s face fell blank and met Steven’s eyes directly. “Nobody would say. It was all cryptic phrasing; not much was grounded on hard fact. This was part of my inclination to believe they were nothing more than a myth. But from what I could gather… this kid could do far more damage than any creature we have out here. And I don’t have reason to think that those descriptions were merely exaggerations. But.. we’ll have to ask him ourselves when he wakes up. That is, if he’s uh, in the mood.” Ford answered with unease.

Steven nodded, not sure really what to make of Ford’s comment. He’d seen a lot of damage done to his home- his _friends_ , before. But a kid who’s human and dead? Never in his life had he thought that would be possible, let alone even thought about it.

“So, dead-but-not-dead really cute guy is just going to stay in this super spooky underground place with the power to like, destroy everything we know?” Mabel finally spoke up, getting a small and slightly irritated sigh from her brother. “So uh, are we just keeping him down here, or are we moving him? There’s other rooms in the shack he can stay in, right? Plus wouldn't it suck ass-“

“Mabel.” Dipper warned pointlessly

“-if he woke up in _this_ room? I’d definitely freak. It’s full of cobweb computers and what looks like cult insignias, and has no natural light! Plus, isn’t there like a bunch of important secret dealies in here?” 

Ford’s mouth formed a straight line. She had a point; he deeply regretted even _Steven_ coming in here, never mind a stranger with a risk factor as high as this kid’s was.

“Yes, well, maybe we could move him to the storage room? There’s a couch in there right?”

“Yeah, and everything else on planet earth. That’s where Soos and his grandma put all their crap, remember? The kid’ll never fit.” Stan interjected.

“Oh, well uh—”

“He can take my bed! I’ll just sleep on the floor.” Steven offered suddenly, before he lost his nerve.

Dipper shot him an accusatory look. “Really? After you went and smacked his open wound earlier? Speaking of, what the heck was that even about, man?!”

Steven physically deflated, shrinking in shame as his cheeks burned pink again. “I-I, that was, that was different. I panicked.” he lied, “I want to apologise to him, when he wakes up. I wanna help, for real this time.”

Dipper wasn’t remotely convinced, only narrowing his eyes further at the older boy. 

“Well, Steven does have the biggest room, and he’s the closest to this kid’s age.” Ford reasoned with a small nod. 

“Don't we have spare mattresses upstairs? We could just put another bed in Steven’s room for zombie-boy here and boom! Problem solved! Then Steven won't have to sleep on the floor!” Mabel exclaimed, a broad smile covering her braces-filled face. Knowing Stan would be the one tasked with hauling it up the stairs, he made a grumbling noise of complaint before Ford cut him off. “That might be our only choice for the time being. Besides, I think a being such as Steven would have the best chance holding his own against the kid, should such a situation occur.” 

Eventually, the Pines family and Steven filed out of the room, leaving Ford to his work. Dipper was the last one out. 

"Ehem, Dipper. There's still something I'd like to show you," Ford called back his nephew, then adding "And shut the door behind you, please." 

The boy in question turned with a curious expression, doing as he's told and returning to Ford's side.

"You and your sister have explained to me before the importance of finding camaraderie within the people of your community, and how at times people such as yourself are challenging to find." The scientist explained mindfully. Unfortunately Dipper couldn't quite catch his drift.

"There were numerous... _unpleasant_ surprises I'd encountered upon operating on the halfa. However..." Ford trailed, pulling up the bottom hem of the teen's shirt. "I must say this specific discovery was far more pleasant."

Dipper at first felt a little strange for viewing beneath a knocked out stranger's shirt, even if the guy's skin was covered in gauze. But then Ford gently dug under the layers of bandages to reveal under one of the kid's pectorals, and he recognized familiar crescent-shaped scar tissue.

Top surgery. This kid had top surgery!

His great uncle chuckled at the way Dipper was frozen in place, eyes sparkling excitedly as he stared at the boy in front of him. 

A boy like him.

**Author's Note:**

> Steven really said "Road safety laws, prepare to be IGNORED!"


End file.
